K-PAX / (2001) **** (out of four)
(No direct spoilers, but I do discuss some of the film's key events.)
"K-PAX" doesn't just juggle with the idea of life on other planets, no sir, it asks a whole lot more. As the most challenging alien movie I have seen in years, the film questions the very fabric of our existence. It's gentle and heartwarming, but doesn't hesitate to insult human skepticism or mock our daily routines. It does not pry or pressure, but in subtle ways provokes deep, unsettling thoughts about the future, and about our pasts. Want a movie that makes you think and leaves much elbow room for individual interpretation? Here you go.
The opening scene takes place in a crowded airport, where a crippled homeless man watches from a distance as a scruffy guy (Kevin Spacey) just appears out of a hustling room. Automatically, we assume this is a visitor from another planet. Is he, or was this penniless handicap just seeing things? In a room full of people, it is easy to imagine things. So begin the questions of "K-PAX."
Authorities take the quiet fellow to a mental institution, where we learn of his name and home. He is Prot, on a trip to planet earth from his home on planet K-PAX. His planet sounds like a really nice place to live. There is no violence or cruelty there. On another note, however, this place has its down sides. Sexuality does not inflict pleasure on its consenting partners, but agonizing pain. There are no families on K-PAX, either. Maybe this isn't such a wonderful world after all.
Prot is probably just another disturbed patient equipped with a wacky story. However, one psychiatrist thinks twice about Prot's allegation. "This is the most convincing delusional I've ever come across," explains Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges) to skeptic listeners. After all, Prot vividly describes his intergalactic space travels, disregarding Einstein's theories about the speed of light. He even dumbfounds a room of astronomers as he sketches the exact obit of his home solar system.
Based on a novel by Gene Brewer, "K-PAX" probes our minds and lifts our spirits. Working from a magnificent screenplay by Charles Leavitt, director Iain Softley encourages speculation and discussion. Is Prot really from another planet? Consider his ability to see ultraviolet light, his unusual blood pressure, his tolerance to medications, his interaction with animals, his ability to connect with mental patients, and his knowledge of a newly discovered solar system.
Now lay those ideas against the investigation Powell conducts and the information he receives in New Mexico that regards Prot. Some will argue, even after the film provides some answers, that Prot simply borrowed a human body? I have my personal ideas about this character, but can there be a concrete explanation behind Prot?
I fear not. The film only leaves us with a finale that persuades the audience to take a specific side on the subject. You don't have to be a skeptic to recognize the possibility that K-PAX could simply be the subconscious internal world of a deeply troubled person, who hides his identity behind fiction that even he believes? Or maybe Prot really is a visitor from another planet?
Don't you love it when movies make you think like this!
(No direct spoilers, but I do discuss some of the film's key events.)
"K-PAX" doesn't just juggle with the idea of life on other planets, no sir, it asks a whole lot more. As the most challenging alien movie I have seen in years, the film questions the very fabric of our existence. It's gentle and heartwarming, but doesn't hesitate to insult human skepticism or mock our daily routines. It does not pry or pressure, but in subtle ways provokes deep, unsettling thoughts about the future, and about our pasts. Want a movie that makes you think and leaves much elbow room for individual interpretation? Here you go.
The opening scene takes place in a crowded airport, where a crippled homeless man watches from a distance as a scruffy guy (Kevin Spacey) just appears out of a hustling room. Automatically, we assume this is a visitor from another planet. Is he, or was this penniless handicap just seeing things? In a room full of people, it is easy to imagine things. So begin the questions of "K-PAX."
Authorities take the quiet fellow to a mental institution, where we learn of his name and home. He is Prot, on a trip to planet earth from his home on planet K-PAX. His planet sounds like a really nice place to live. There is no violence or cruelty there. On another note, however, this place has its down sides. Sexuality does not inflict pleasure on its consenting partners, but agonizing pain. There are no families on K-PAX, either. Maybe this isn't such a wonderful world after all.
Prot is probably just another disturbed patient equipped with a wacky story. However, one psychiatrist thinks twice about Prot's allegation. "This is the most convincing delusional I've ever come across," explains Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges) to skeptic listeners. After all, Prot vividly describes his intergalactic space travels, disregarding Einstein's theories about the speed of light. He even dumbfounds a room of astronomers as he sketches the exact obit of his home solar system.
Based on a novel by Gene Brewer, "K-PAX" probes our minds and lifts our spirits. Working from a magnificent screenplay by Charles Leavitt, director Iain Softley encourages speculation and discussion. Is Prot really from another planet? Consider his ability to see ultraviolet light, his unusual blood pressure, his tolerance to medications, his interaction with animals, his ability to connect with mental patients, and his knowledge of a newly discovered solar system.
Now lay those ideas against the investigation Powell conducts and the information he receives in New Mexico that regards Prot. Some will argue, even after the film provides some answers, that Prot simply borrowed a human body? I have my personal ideas about this character, but can there be a concrete explanation behind Prot?
I fear not. The film only leaves us with a finale that persuades the audience to take a specific side on the subject. You don't have to be a skeptic to recognize the possibility that K-PAX could simply be the subconscious internal world of a deeply troubled person, who hides his identity behind fiction that even he believes? Or maybe Prot really is a visitor from another planet?
Don't you love it when movies make you think like this!